COVID-19 In India Goes Crazy, Twitter Limits Critical Teasing

Illustration (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Indian government asked social media Twitter to delete 50 tweets criticizing the handling of the coronavirus outbreak in India because once again set a world record.

The criticism came from several local officials. At the request, Twitter deleted 50 tweets that were considered to be divisive.

A Twitter spokesman said the company would censor a tweet if the tweet violated local law. Before censoring content, Twitter will also notify the account owner if the action is based on a legal request from the Indian government.

For your information, Indian law restricts the publication of material that the government deems defamatory, or that could incite violence.

"If the content violates the Twitter Rules, it will be removed from the service. If it is considered illegal in certain jurisdictions but does not violate the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so that they know that we have received a legal order relating to the account", said one Twitter spokesman quoted The Verge, Sunday, April 25.

Accounts censored include members of the Indian Parliament, two filmmakers, an actor, and a West Bengal state minister

The tweet in question is critical of the Indian government, but not the kind of misinformation about COVID-19.

"India will never forgive PM @narendramodi for belittling the corona situation in that country and allowing so many people to die from mismanagement. At a time when India is experiencing a health crisis, the PM has chosen to export millions of vaccines to other countries", tweeted a state minister in West Bengal, Moloy Ghatak.

India will never forgive PM @narendramodi for underplaying the corona situation in the country and letting so many people die due to mismanagement. At a time when India is going through a health crisis, PM chose to export millions of vaccine to other nations #ModiHataoDeshBachao pic .twitter.com / 5sQRfT7kpB

- Moloy Ghatak (@GhatakMoloy) April 20, 2021

It is known that India is in the midst of the second largest wave of COVID-19 cases, which has made ventilators, medicine, and oxygen scarce.

According to Johns Hopkins' COVID-19 resource center, India reported 346,786 new cases as of Friday and 2,624 deaths. After 1.5 percent of Indian citizens follow the vaccine.